asteroid B612

Yesterday Marlowe was baptized into the family of faith. A moment of great rejoicing in our family.

Do you acknowledge that, although our children are conceived and born in sin and therefore are subject to condemnation, they are holy in Christ, and as members of his church ought to be baptized?

Do you promise to instruct your child in the principles of our holy religion as revealed in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, and as summarized in the Confession of Faith and Catechisms of this Church; and do you promise to pray with and for your child, to set an example of piety and godliness before him, and to endeavor by all the means of God's appointment to bring him up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?

Marlowe didn't cry at all. He didn't make a peep the whole time except for a tiny coo once while I was still holding him. He did, however, poop right before we were supposed to go up, so no chance to change him. (Sorry, Mark) Ellis also did really well. He kept waving to the grandparents (my ILs go to the same church and my parents came up from Lancaster--about an hour and a half--for church and dinner. and one of my sisters and one my brothers were there, too). I was glad he was well-behaved and didn't do something crazy like try to knock the cup of water over. He seemed really interested. He signed "eat". I think he thought it was the Lord's Supper (though nothing was set out for it). Signing is fun, because we could talk to Ellis the whole time and explain as best we could what was happening.

My family stayed for lunch. And some friends joined us.

In the afternoon, we had cake and invited church friends to celebrate with us. It was warm with a coolish breeze. Perfect late summer afternoon.

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From the Book of Church Order
Baptism is a sacrament ordained by the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a sign and seal of the inclusion of the person who is baptized in the covenant of grace. Teaching that we and our children are conceived and born in sin, it witnesses and seals unto us the remission of sins and the bestowal of all the gifts of salvation through union with Christ. Baptism with water signifies and seals cleansing from sin by the blood and the Spirit of Christ, together with our death unto sin and our resurrection unto newness of life by virtue of the death and resurrection of Christ. Since these gifts of salvation are the gracious provision of the triune God, who is pleased to claim us as his very own, we are baptized into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. And since baptized persons are called upon to assume the obligations of the covenant, baptism summons us to renounce the devil, the world and the flesh and to walk humbly with our God in devotion to his commandments.

Although our young children do not yet understand these things, they are nevertheless to be baptized. For the promise of the covenant is made to believers and to their seed, as God declared unto Abraham: "And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee." In the new dispensation no less than in the old, the seed of the faithful, born within the church, have, by virtue of their birth, interest in the covenant and right to the seal of it and to the outward privileges of the church. For the covenant of grace is the same in substance under both dispensations, and the grace of God for the consolation of believers is even more fully manifested in the new dispensation. Moreover, our Saviour admitted little children into his presence, embracing and blessing them, and saying, "Of such is the kingdom of God." So the children of the covenant are by baptism distinguished from the world and solemnly received into the visible church.

A few minutes of quiet. E has just left for school. M catnaps. Blueberry pancakes sizzle. Our friends got me hooked on Trader Joe's buttermilk pancake mix. Third time this week I've made pancakes...with lots of blueberries. Mmmm.

My aunt and four cousins and my mom (who was hanging out with them) stopped by yesterday to say hello to the baby. It was such a fun impromptu visit! And E had a blast playing with my cousins.

And on these HOT days in late July, we eat lots popsicles and crank up the AC. T minus 8 days 'til vacation in Maine.

I loaded up Ellis and Marlowe on Monday and went to spend a few days in Lancaster at my mom's. E's summer session at school starts tomorrow, so I wanted to get a visit in before that. I wanted my great-aunt and uncle to meet Marlowe, and we had lunch and a great visit with them. Aunt Lee loves babies, and it's so fun to see her love on mine.

Then we went down to visit my grandma. Ellis was such a buddy! He knew where we were when we got there, and brought in his puzzle book to show her. He plopped up on her bed and patted next to him for her to sit, but she is confined to a motorized wheelchair, so she couldn't, but she had fun looking at his book with him. And he performed his colors admirably. Much to the delight of her former schoolteacher's heart. She gave him a ride on the wheelchair holding him in her lap. I think she has more fun with this age.

And mommy and grandma were not too proud to sit outside in the baby pool with Ellis later. It was a hot day and the water felt great. Esp when E sprayed us in the face. haha!

E didn't sleep very well while we were gone, so I'm kind of tired. But it was nice to have an extra pair of hands to hold the baby, to have someone feed me when I was SO hungry (which I am ALL THE TIME--and I have a fat baby to prove it!), and to have a park to walk to a few blocks away.

We came home this evening. Ellis did not follow the plan and fall asleep in teh car, so he had a rather late bedtime. Hope it doesn't mess us up for school tomorrow, especially since he'll get to ride the bus for the first time.

So I made through my week, and we took off on Friday afternoon to visit my parents in Lancaster (about an hour and a half away). We stopped off to do a quick errand in Swedish Paradise, had a relaxing evening, and then walked downtown for music and fireworks! The local symphony was playing and finished off the event with a fireworks display. It was the first time E had seen them. A few went off during the last song, and E totally freaked out and lept into my dad's lap. I took his CI off so he could enjoy them a little more. He was totally zonkered out after that...waaaaay past his bedtime.

(when shoes were required, it turns out that Daddy's were the closest ones available)

I bought him a glowstick. I was so excited to be able to do that. I've been dreaming of getting my kid a glowstick for years. He LOVED it. Played with it for hours.

On Saturday we had homemade waffles and ice cream and fresh strawberries for breakfast. Chris and Dad did house projects. Ellis "helped". Mom and I walked to central market where I stocked up on goodies. My brother Nick came over for a little bit and took Ellis to his house for about an hour to play. E totally adores him and was SO EXCITED to drive off with Nick for a little bit. My parents' new neighborhood is mostly Hispanic, so we tried a local restaurant for dinner. It was too greasy/salty for me, but we enjoyed trying it. After his bath, Ellis curled up and fell asleep so fast. One tired boy! That's how we like 'em! We loaded the sleepies up and went home in the quiet and cool of the night.

I'm starting this new week feeling a little less defeatist than I did last week. We'll see how I actually feel when Monday morning officially clamors in .

Yesterday:

Went to midwife. Still pregnant.
Cleaned house.
Granny, Mom, and Luisa came.
Made taco salad for lunch.
Grace H. came over.
Went to the arboretum and walked and walked.
Crashed back at home.
Sam came.
Had pizza.
Girls left.
Sam left.
Ellis decided to wake up in the middle of the night for several hours.

Today:
Ellis decided to wake up way early.
Got ready for school.
Took E to school.
Went to parent meeting.
Chatted with another mom for awhile.
Went to CHOP.
Got a Happy Meal for lunch. (so sue me)
Went to speech therapy.
Took a very circuitous route home through center city and Fairmount park due to university graduations and regatta on the river.
Picked up dinner at friend's house. (thankyouthankyou)
Ate.
Crashed on couch.
Still pregnant.

Overheard:
"Still here?" 35 times (rough approximation)
"When are you due?" 27 times
"You look ready!" 15 times
"Boy or Girl?" 12 times
"What are you doing here?" 7 times
"Are you having twins?" 1 time
"Shall I call labor and delivery?" 1 time (security guard at CHOP)
no comment. priceless

Thanks for the nice birthday wishes. I love my birthday. And I'm happy turning 30. I had a great decade for my twenties. I did a lot. I went to college. I traveled a lot, including studying in Europe a couple of times. I got married. I lived in New Orleans. I went to grad school. I met tons of cool people. I had a kid. I did cool things and went cool places. I'm satisfied with my experiences. I think my thirties will be a little different, but great in their own way.

I had a fun birthday. My mom came for the day and went with me to my midwife appt. Heard the heartbeat. Everything is chugging away normally. I feel gargantuan, and if the four pounds I gained in two weeks has anything to do with the fact that my front feels more and more like a bowling ball, I'm hoping there's a baby fattening up quite nicely in there.

We went to the fabric store where I picked up some fabric for the spread I'm going to make for my bed. I'm going with a batik-y theme. The blues look so dreamy. Then we picked Ellis up from school and went to lunch at a coffee shop that makes yummy crepes. We got Ellis a brioche roll and jam, which he was happy with until he saw our crepes. (he wouldn't have liked the crepe and had lunch at school anyway, so wasn't that hungry. but I was so glad I had had the camera out when they set the crepes down on the table, b/c the look on his face had me rolling!)

Then we went to our local arboretum, where my mom got me a membership as a birthday gift (yay!). The bulbs and forsythia were blooming. The buds on the flowering trees were fat and ready to bloom soon. I always think of daffodils as my birthday flower, because my mom tells how when they brought me home from the hospital, she noticed all the daffodils blooming. I wish I had something as poetic to think of with Ellis, but I don't: all I remember was "it's so cold!" (it was unseasonably cool that day, and we had been used to New Orleans heat) and "I hope we don't get lost" (having just moved to the area two weeks before).